October 2003 Reviewed by Jeff Van Dyne	Energy C-C3 / C-R3 / S10.2 Home-Theater Speaker System

Description Model: C-C3 LCR speakers Price: $600 USD each Dimensions: 22.9"H x 7.75"W x 11.5"D Weight: 30 pounds each Model: C-R3 surrounds Price: $300 USD each Dimensions: 12.0"W x 9.7"H x 6.3"D Weight: 13 pounds each Model: S10.2 subwoofer Price: $500 USD each Dimensions: 15.75"W x 15.75"H x 17.3"D Weight: 33 pounds each System Price: $4000 USD ($2900 for a 5.1 system) Warranty: Five years parts and labor on speakers, one year on subwoofer

Features Magnetically shielded Chambered 1" aluminum-dome tweeter Two 2" aluminum midrange drivers Two 6.5" Homopolymer woofers with NBR/SBR surrounds (C-C3) One 4.5" Homopolymer woofer with NBR/SBR surround (C-R3) Black ash or Canadian maple/silver vinyl finish (C-C3 and S10.2) Matte black, white, or Canadian maple/silver finish (C-R3) 10" injection-molded polypropylene woofer with rubber surround and 1.5" voice coil (S10.2) 150W RMS, 600W peak MOSFET amplifier (S10.2) Dual 2"-diameter flared front vents (S10.2) Audio/Video EQ (S10.2) Variable low-pass filter (50-100Hz) (S10.2) RCA and speaker-level inputs (S10.2) Front-mounted controls (S10.2)

Late last year, a group of SoundStage! Network writers visited the facilities of Audio Products International, the parent company of Energy Speaker Systems. While touring the design center, we came upon a somewhat unconventional-looking center-channel speaker.

The C-C3 is not just a center-channel, though it was designed to function in that application -- according to Energy, it’s a "multi-purpose speaker." What’s different about it is that Energy has added a pair of 2" midrange drivers at 45-degree angles to the tweeter. It looked to me like an unusual design that should do interesting things for dispersion. The speakers weren’t far enough along for us to listen to them at the time, but when Energy asked if I’d be interested in reviewing them, I eagerly accepted a 7.1-channel system based on the new design.

Description and setup

The system Energy shipped consisted of three C-C3 speakers to cover the front, four C-R3 surrounds, two S10.2 subwoofers, and retails for $4000 USD. The C-C3 is relatively large as center-channels go, but it’s not physically intrusive. In fact, I found the simple black-ash vinyl cabinet and silver front baffle quite attractive. They were equally good-looking with the grilles removed, showing off the aluminum-dome tweeter, and silver Homopolymer woofers. My wife, not generally fond of the grilleless look, said several times that she liked the high-tech appearance of the C-C3 sans grilles. Instead of the standard posts or headlocks, the grilles on the C-C3 are held on by small magnets -- a small thing, but it made the grilles so easy to remove and replace that I found myself more likely to leave them off for serious listening.

The C-R3 is the most configurable surround speaker I’ve used to date. Its driver complement consists of a small woofer and tweeter on the front baffle and a 2" extended-range midrange -- the same as used in the C-C3 -- on each of its side baffles. The side-firing drivers can be switched between dipole or bipole operation, and you can control the volume of the side drivers relative to those on the front panel. Energy provides recommendations for settings based on the difference in distance to the listening position between your front speakers and surrounds. These seemed to work pretty well, with generally good results in both my large and small listening rooms. I eventually tweaked the settings in both rooms to better suit my needs, but I suspect most users will find Energy’s suggested settings more than acceptable.

The S10.2 subwoofer is more conventional, except that its Level, Crossover, and Video EQ controls are mounted on its front. I found this handy while setting things up, but also found that teenagers are more likely to mess with your carefully calibrated settings if the controls are in plain view. (Hint to manufacturers: Software-driven setup with configuration locks, in place of mechanical controls, might be a big selling point for parents of teens.) The inputs on the rear of the S10.2 consist of two RCA jacks and a full set of binding-post speaker-level inputs and outputs. Surprisingly, the RCA jacks are not a stereo pair. Instead, one input uses the internal crossover while the other bypasses it. An internal 150W amplifier powers the S10.2’s 10" driver.

I tested the sound and versatility of the Energy system in both of my listening rooms. In the larger room, I placed the left and right C-C3s on 24" stands pointed in toward the listening position, and the center C-C3 atop the TV and pointed down slightly. The C-R3 surrounds were mounted on the rear and side walls about 6.5’ off the floor, the side speakers directly in line with the primary listening position and the rears about 4’ behind me and about 8’ apart. I finally settled on a configuration in which the side surrounds were set to bipole operation, the rears to dipole.

I quickly fell in love with the configurability of the C-R3s as I fine-tuned each of them to meet specific placement criteria. After trying several options, I ended up with the S10.2 subwoofers about 3’ from each of the room’s front corners. The smaller room was set up similarly, but with the side surrounds set at full dipole and without the rear surrounds and second sub.

Sound

Saving Private Ryan began the education process that convinced me of the usefulness of such highly configurable surrounds as the C-R3. I had the system set up in the large listening room with the side surrounds set to bipole operation, as suggested by Energy, but when I moved them into the small room, I found the speakers too easily gave away their locations with these settings, and so switched them over to dipole operation. This produced the most expansive soundfield in the small room without the speakers drawing undue attention to themselves. Once the final adjustments were made, the system performed beautifully, with completely seamless side-to-side and front-to-back pans. The audio images of bullets whizzing past my head were as believable as it could be in the absence of the real thing.

The dispersion characteristics of the C-C3 during Rush Hour 2 were impressive. Other than some minor rolloff of the upper frequencies, there was little difference between the sound as heard from directly in front of the speakers and from standing almost completely to one side. In this area, where many traditional center-channels falter, Energy’s new design pays huge dividends for people seated far off to one side of center.

The explosion in the film’s opening scene was thunderous without being too boomy -- a good start -- and the tonal quality of the S10.2 sub was spot-on during the karaoke scene. I noticed in several scenes that the sounds of cars passing in front of the camera maintained a perfectly even tone as they were panned from one speaker to another. Most systems’ center-channel speakers vary enough from the left and right models that I hear slight differences during such pans. Not with the Energy system.

In Almost Famous, the concert scenes were as enveloping and coherent as anything I’ve heard in my system, but the dual subs weren’t quite up to the admittedly tough standard set by the Hsu Research VTF-3 in my large room. There was a noticeable boominess to the bass when pushed hard in this room, something the VTF-3 took in stride. This turned out to be a simple case of too much space to fill with not enough muscle. Once I’d moved the system to the small listening room, the S10.2 tightened up dramatically. It still wasn’t as defined as the VTF-3, but held its own and was much easier to place.

If you’re looking for something a little different musically, check out Koby Israelite’s Dance of the Idiots [Tzadik 7179]. This odd mix of traditional Jewish music and heavy metal somehow works for me, though I admit that electric bass guitars and kick drum do not seem to be natural ingredients to mix with accordions, flugelhorns, and didgeridoos. But the album’s mix of classical and rock instruments intrigued me enough that I bought it. An excellent example is "Battersea Blues," in which a variety of percussion instruments are mixed with clarinet, didgeridoo, melodica, and electric guitar to produce a tune unlike anything I’m familiar with. The Energy C-C3 never missed a beat, reproducing every instrument with unwavering accuracy and neutrality. A sound akin to that of running water runs through much of the song -- I swear I could hear the water flowing down the front of the speakers! This interesting effect would be lost with many speakers. All other instruments were perfectly locked into their own individual spaces.

One recording I never tire of hearing is Holly Cole’s Temptation [Alert 81026]. If you know this CD, you know that "Train Song" can get a bit ugly if your subwoofer isn’t up to the task. By the time I got around to listening to this CD, I had the Energy system set up in the small room; I thought for sure "Train Song" would trip up the single S10.2, but I was wrong. It managed to rattle a picture on the wall while retaining good definition and tonal quality.

One advantage of the Energys’ extremely wide dispersion pattern was that I could wander around the room and hear very little shift in tonal quality -- but when I sat in the sweet spot, I was rewarded with pinpoint imaging and soundstaging that I couldn’t hear when sitting way off to one side. This was evidenced by "I Don’t Wanna Grow Up," in which the lower notes on the piano seem to cover much of the front of the room while Cole’s voice is locked on dead center, the acoustic bass just behind her on the right.

The Energy system kicked up a little dust with the SACD multichannel version of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon [Capitol 82136]. For the most part, this disc does a nice job of adding appropriate ambience without too many gimmicky effects. A nice example is "Brain Damage" -- the effects are mostly ambient, except for that laughing voice floating about the room. It’s a perfect example of what can be done to add emotional impact with multichannel music, and why it might be more important than ever to have a well-matched set of five or more speakers in your audio system. Of course, if we’re listening to Dark Side, we must evaluate "Time." Again, the excellent sonic match of the Energy speakers helped to lay out an entirely believable stage, upon which the clocks were set. Except for one clock positioned fully in the left surround speaker, the timepieces seemed to come from everywhere at once, each of them from a specific position where there was no speaker.

Comparison

The Energy system produced one of the most coherent soundfields I’ve ever heard in either of my theaters. For some time now, the leader for coherence in my house has been the $1546 5.1-channel Paradigm Esprit v.3-based system -- but the Energy C-C3/C-R3 system improved on this with three identical front speakers and very closely matched surrounds. The C-C3 could hold its own down into the mid-40Hz range, though with a bit less weight than the Paradigm. Where the Esprit is good to below 40Hz, the Energy held sway with a more transparent top end, better detail, and transient response throughout the upper midrange. Soundstaging and imaging were nearly equal, the Energy system adding a bit more depth to the soundstage.

The S10.2 subwoofer was about the equal of the Paradigm PDR-12 in trading off smaller size for volume. In my small room, I was easily able to attain upper-20Hz extension with a single S10.2 at reasonably offensive volume levels. However, I was never quite happy with the dual subs in my large listening room, where they would get boomy and lose definition during loud passages; there, I found the Hsu Research VTF-3 a better fit. In the small room, however, the Hsu sub can get a little overwhelming; a single S10.2 handled this space nicely. It’s also a lot easier to find room for an S10.2 than for some of the larger subs I’ve auditioned.

Conclusion

The Energy C-C3 and C-R3 are excellent home-theater values. I’ve heard nothing else in my system that approaches their combination of soundstaging, clarity at all volume levels, overall system coherence, and soundfield development. The success of this setup derives from the close sonic match of all seven speakers, the wide dispersion of the front channels, and the unsurpassed configurability of the surrounds. The S10.2 should be a fine match for rooms of small to medium size, though some competing subs will provide deeper extension and higher output levels in larger rooms. The bottom line? Anyone building a high-quality audio/video system should definitely take a close look at this Energy speaker system.

Manufacturer contact information:

Energy Speaker Systems
3641 McNicoll Avenue
Toronto, Ontario M1X 1G5
Canada
Phone: (416) 321-1800
Fax: (416) 321-1500

Website: www.energy-speakers.com

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